Originally Posted by
Markie
My guess there will only be change if Starwood/Marriott make their scheme more flyer-friendly. If they keep the model that Hyatt has chosen, or make Platinum much harder in their new scheme, then why would Hyatt change?
That's how I see it too.
My bet is that Hyatt's not going to change its program devaluation approach because of Starwood/Marriott. Marriott hasn't missed the Hyatt signal on this, but Marriott has a lot more beds to fill and really doesn't seem to have Hyatt as being a primary concern for it -- rather they seem to want to make things work for SPG Platinums, even those at the 25 stay level.
Unlike Marriott, Hyatt seems wedded to the idea that 50-60 night and 60+/75+ night customers are not all that difficult/costly for it to replace or even dismiss as a priority. My bet is that Marriott knows that making things worse for 50+ night and 75+ night customers just incentivizes its customers to shop around more than they otherwise would. That is to say this: Marriott expects its most valued customers to behave in rational ways. Hyatt, on the other hand, seems to think that moneyed fools are a dime a dozen in the market for its lodging services and that irrational customers are out there in huge numbers and easily picked/retained by Hyatt; in other words, Hyatt is sort of saying its most valued customers are the most irrational ones. Trying to live off picking pockets of irrational, moneyed customers may work when you're in the business of selling something that is a passing fad or a scam, but it's hard to make a sustainable mass market business of that. Hyatt trying to act as if with these changes it's in this market to be but a luxury market goods provider is amusing -- especially when the program change/devaluation is designed so as to work mostly for those doing lots of relatively cheaper stays at Hyatt limited service properties.